The Ministry of National Health Services confirmed that the existence of polio virus had been confirmed in enviornmental samples from Karachi and Peshawar.

A statement from interim Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan said that the virus sample that was found is genetically related to the virus found in Afghanistan.

Dr Jan also desribed the detection of samples as ‘concerning’ and said that children are continuously at risk of getting affected by the virus.

The minister added that all positive samples will be invesitgated to find which communities have been affected.

He added that Pakistan and Afghanistan were working together to root out the virus. He also said that the government has fixed a target of December to stop the transmission of the virus.